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Edited by Ktan_Dantaktee: 8/7/2014 4:36:21 AM
54

How come laser weapons are always shown as the weapon system of the future?

Why not magnetic weaponry? Wouldn't assault-rifle sized rail guns be far more devastating and effective in combat? The projectiles of magnetic weaponry are pretty close to being as fast as lasers, and are better at piercing armor; not to mention most magnetic rounds have a farther effective range than laser weaponry. Overall, magnetic weapons are better than laser weapons unless you have a highly advanced laser weapon that fires ridiculously powerful blasts; and without a compact power source capable of containing ludicrous amounts of energy, that ain't happening. TL;DR: Magnetic weapons > Laser weapons Thoughts? Opinions?

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  • Um no. First off, man portable MWs (magnetic weapons) can reach nowhere near to speed of DEWs (directed energy weapons). Il be generous and say a man portable rail gun could reach velocities of MAYBE 0.01c, 1/100 the speed of light. The reason for this is, you would only have a 1m barrel available to propel the projectile, longer barrel = more acceleration. Second, there's the issue of ammunition and energy. The amount of energy required to propel a projectile up to a lethal velocity far exceeds the amount need to kill a man with pure radiation. So not only would you get less bang for your buck, you'd have to lug around heavy physical ammunition for your rail gun. 3) DEWs can put sustained fire on targets, whereas MWs can do semi auto at best. If you take a shot at an aircraft with an MW and miss, you have to rework the math and fire again, with a DEW all you have to do is correct for the difference and bring the beam onto the target. 4) safety. The amount of energy required to propel a projectile up to high velocities along a 1m barrel would not only melt the barrel, it would kill the operator and destroy any nearby electronics. 5) DEWs are not limited to optical lasers. Ever heard of a particle beam cannon/atom laser? It's basically a laser but instead of directing optical light at a target if fires a cohesive beam of ionized particles at light speed which does not dissociate with distance. Assuming the weapon was well designed, a PBW could theoretically have unlimited range.

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